Contents

Production and development

Storyboard artist Raven Molisee wrote on DeviantArt "... the first tree gag was in the script. The second one (if you mean the one with RD's eyes popping out of the tree) was me."[2]

A layout artist wrote on The Allspark Forums "... in the script for Hurricane Fluttershy, there was both a Cloudchaser and Stormwalker. Stormwalker was cut before storyboards, and Cloudchaser was never designed. The storyboard artists used the Stormwalker design in the scenes where Cloudchaser was in the script and I posed them out in layout."[3]

Summary

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Prologue

Rainbow Dash begins the episode by flying through Ponyville giving out fliers for a mandatory meeting she's holding for all Ponyville Pegasus ponies. Later on in the evening, all of the Pegasus ponies gather at Golden Oak Library. Fluttershy waits outside disguised as a tree, but after a quick headcount, Rainbow Dash sees through it and pushes her inside.

The speech

A 1950s-style cartoon showing how water gets up to Cloudsdale.

Inside the library, Rainbow Dash shows the group of Pegasus ponies an old film cartoon explaining how Cloudsdale requires rainwater to produce the rainclouds for Equestria. In order to obtain this water, Pegasus ponies must work together to make a tornado to funnel water up to Cloudsdale from a reservoir on the ground. The wind speed that a Pegasus can fly is measured in "wing power," and the minimum wind speed required for water to overcome gravity is 800 wing power. The film reel is then damaged in the projector that Spike is working, so Rainbow Dash takes over. She explains how this year, Cloudsdale has chosen Ponyville's highland reservoir, and that Spitfire, captain of The Wonderbolts, will be present to oversee the water transfer and take the official record of their top wind speed. She also says that the year before, Fillydelphia made a new wind speed record of 910 wing power, but believes that if they train hard, Ponyville could do better and put out a wind speed power of over 1,000. The other Pegasi react every time she speaks with great enthusiasm, but as they end the meeting with cheers, Rainbow notices that Fluttershy has vanished from where she was standing.

Fluttershy can't fly

Fluttershy's memory of being bullied in Flight School.

After this, Rainbow Dash appears on a training field in the daytime where a multitude of Pegasus ponies are training for tornado duty, giving out encouragement and pointers where needed. Rainbow notes that every Pegasus resident is present except for Fluttershy. Rainbow goes to Fluttershy's cottage, finding her in a robe with red spots all over her. Fluttershy gives out a few fake coughs and sneezes and tries to claim that she "really, really wanted to come to training" but ended up with pony pox. Rainbow does not fall for this ruse and sympathetically says that there's only one cure for pony pox... and then dumps a bucket of cold water onto Fluttershy, rinsing the "pony pox" away. Next, Fluttershy falls over and says that she hurt her wing and cannot fly, but Rainbow Dash once again proves otherwise as she startles her with her coach's whistle, prompting her to fly into the air. Rainbow gently persuades her foalhood friend to tell her what's going on and Fluttershy finally cracks, expressing to Rainbow Dash her inability to fly in performances in front of others, which she believes tornado duty to be. She then recollects her experiences at flight camp when the two of them were younger, where her inability to fly properly led the other fillies and colts to laugh at her. Although Rainbow at first snaps at her and says, "Suck it up, Fluttershy!", she calms down and tells Fluttershy that she will need every Pegasus' help and every ounce of wing power she can get to break the record, including Fluttershy. Fluttershy refuses until, after Rainbow starts flying away sadly, she finally obliges to help.

Back at the training field, Twilight Sparkle and Spike are present and aid Rainbow Dash by measuring the wing power of each Pegasus, recording the results, and keeping the project organized and on track. Twilight attempts to explain how a machine she has, an anemometer with a wing power gauge, measures the power, but after no one understands her scientific terms, Spike explains in simple English. Twilight then hears someone in the crowd cough; she suspects that it is Thunderlane, who earlier in the meeting had also been coughing. Twilight sprays him with a disinfectant spray, although the one who coughed was actually Blossomforth, who is standing behind him, while Rainbow Dash comments that he's trying to pull a ruse to get out of tornado duty. Rainbow starts off by setting Thunderlane around the track to measure his wing power and he gets a rating of 9.3 wing power. Then, Rainbow Dash herself has her wing power measured, and she gets a rating of 16.5 wing power.

Fluttershy's self-consciousness finally gets the better of her.

Rainbow Dash states that if each and every Pegasus can get their wing power above 10 by the end of the week, they will be able to set the new tornado speed record. After measuring some more Pegasus ponies' wing power, it is Fluttershy's turn. As she slowly makes her way around the track, Flitter and Cloudchaser begin to laugh, reminding her of being bullied at flight camp, which hinders her performance further. In the end, she obtains a wing power rating of 0.5; Twilight and Rainbow try to spin this in a positive light, but this is ruined when Spike ponders the fact that this is actually less than 1 wing power, which earns him a smack upside the head from Twilight. Reminded of her bullying, Fluttershy's confidence is crushed. Rainbow Dash asks her not to leave, but it is to no avail: Fluttershy bursts into tears and runs away, saying she does not have the courage to partake in the tornado.

Training for the tornado

Angel and the animals comfort Fluttershy.

Fluttershy is then shown crying next to a willow tree, being comforted by Angel and her various animal friends. The animals attempt to give her the confidence to partake in the event, reminding her of when she instilled confidence in them. They succeed in this when Fluttershy says she will get her confidence up and become a great flyer.

With the help of her animal friends, Fluttershy trains by doing wing push-ups with animals on her back, tug-of-war with a pack of butterflies, and flying past dandelions to see if she can dislodge their seeds. As she trains more, she eventually gets better and better, until she can finally do push-ups with several animals on her back, beat a large pack of butterflies in a tug-of-war, and dislodge the seeds from a whole patch of dandelions. She does all this as her animal friends use pony masks to try and imitate the crowd who will be alongside her in the actual event.

You're the best around, Fluttershy!

Fluttershy arrives back at the track, surrounded by her animal friends, for a second run. She does improve her wing power rating, although it is still comparatively low at 2.3. This once again makes her upset, claiming that her nerves got the best of her. Rainbow tells her that she doesn't care if Fluttershy can't make it to 10 wing power, as every bit will count. Fluttershy asks how Rainbow would feel if it was her that could only fly at 2.5 when everypony else can do 10.0 (Spike points out it was 2.3, earning him another upside-the-head from Twilight). When Rainbow awkwardly waffles on a direct answer, Fluttershy answers that she'd feel humiliated, exactly as she does right now. On the verge of tears, she apologizes and trots away saying she just can't do it. Spike blithely tells Rainbow that she'll still have tons of wing power available to lift the water before an annoyed Twilight drags him away, but Rainbow just wishes that there was a way to lift her friend out of the dumps.

Fluttershy saves the day

Rainbow Dash and the Pegasi take flight.

The next day, the Pegasi gather at the highland reservoir where Twilight is in charge of a very large and robust anemometer to record the tornado's wind speed, and Spitfire arrives from Cloudsdale to oversee the transfer. As attendance is taken, it is shown that Thunderlane is not present, and his younger brother Rumble explains that he has the feather flu and is at Ponyville Hospital. Seven other ponies are also absent due to feather flu, and Rainbow Dash is worried they won't break the record - but Twilight calculates that they might not even have enough wing power to get the water up to Cloudsdale at all.

When Spike asks if they should pack things up, Rainbow decides to ignore the record and just focus on getting the water to Cloudsdale. With the Pegasi ready, Twilight gives the anemometer a final check then has Spike blow on a very large and old carved wooden horn used to signal the start and the end of the tornado, and they begin to form the tornado with the Pegasus ponies who are present. As the Pegasi succeed in beginning to suck the water up the funnel, Fluttershy arrives on the scene to give Rainbow Dash moral support. However, the tornado breaks down as the ponies lose their coordination, tiring and knocking into each other. Rainbow Dash immediately gets up to try again, but Twilight holds her back, concerned that if the formation breaks apart again, somepony could get hurt. Rainbow considers this, but decides to give the tornado one more shot, as she must know if she and her crew gave it their all. Once again, Spike signals the tornado formation, and eventually, the combined power peaks at 795 wing power, just below the required 800 wing power to overcome gravity. With Spitfire only there as an observer, Fluttershy is the only Pegasus left that can help.

Fluttershy can really fly!

After some encouragement from Twilight, Fluttershy puts on a pair of flight goggles and allows herself to be sucked into the tornado. After flailing a bit, she manages to place herself in formation. When Rainbow Dash spots her, she is delighted that Fluttershy is flying with them and together they strain alongside the other Pegasi. She surpasses her previous best wing power rating as her effort causes the meter to climb to 798, but begins to tire and is overtaken by other Pegasus ponies. This begins to remind her once again of the bullying at flight camp, but this time, it strengthens her nerves, allowing her to travel faster than previously. Fluttershy manages to peak out at five wing power, causing the tornado to reach 800.

Spitfire congratulates Rainbow Dash.

The water overcomes gravity and to Spitfire's surprise, suddenly explodes out the top of the tornado and is siphoned to Cloudsdale. Spike signals on the horn once more, and the Pegasi safely exit the formation. Once Fluttershy stops flying in circles, she receives much praise. Spitfire congratulates Rainbow Dash on showing "a lot of guts," but Rainbow Dash directs the congratulations to Fluttershy, whom she dubs her "number one flyer."

Epilogue

Fluttershy is the heroine of the day.

A group of ponies carries her away, chanting her name, as she recites her letter to Princess Celestia, in which she mentions her realization that although sometimes you may feel that what you can offer may make only little difference, every contribution counts, and that if "you just keep your head high, do your best, and believe in yourself, anything can happen."

Fluttershy: I tried, but you should've seen those ponies laughing at me...

[birds chirp]

Fluttershy: I know it's important to have confidence in myself...

[badger squeaking]

Fluttershy: Yes, yes, I do remember. The river was swelling...

[badger squeaking]

Fluttershy: ...and you were scared...

[badger squeaking]

Fluttershy: ...yes, I did tell you to never give up... and to believe in yourself. You're right, my friends. I shouldn't give up. I will get my confidence up and show everypony that I am a good flyer! A great flyer!

[squirrel chittering]

Spike: What did he say?

Twilight Sparkle: Do I look like I speak squirrel?

Rainbow Dash: So you won't fly with 10.0 wing power. Every bit counts!

Fluttershy: How would you feel if everypony else was flying with 10.0 wing power and you were flying with 2.5?

Spike: Actually, it was only 2.3, and- ow!

Twilight Sparkle: If you break apart again, somepony could get hurt! You should quit, it's not safe!

Rainbow Dash: No! One more time! I've gotta know we gave it our all! If I'm going down, I'm going down flying!

Twilight Sparkle: Seven ninety five! We are so close! Fluttershy, they need you up there!

Fluttershy: I won't make a difference!

Twilight Sparkle: You can make a difference!

Fluttershy: My measly 2.3 wing power is still too little!

Spike: It's sticking at seven ninety five! I don't know if they've got any more in 'em!

Twilight Sparkle: Do it for Equestria! Do it for Rainbow Dash! Do it for yourself!

Rainbow Dash: Whoa, girl, take it easy!

Fluttershy: Whuh, what? Did we do it?

Rainbow Dash: Yeah, we did it! You did it!

Fluttershy: Dear Princess Celestia, sometimes you can feel like what you have to offer is too little to make a difference, but today, I learned that everypony's contribution is important, no matter how small. If you just keep your head high, do your best, and believe in yourself, anything can happen.